This Three Cheese Garden Veggie Pizza is loaded with fresh veggies and cheese and is made with a healthy pizza dough recipe.
Getting kids to eat their veggies can be tough. That’s why I’ve teamed up with Produce for Kids — a philanthropic organization that’s dedicated to educating families on the benefits of healthy eating with fresh produce, providing simple meal solutions and raising money for children’s charities.
The abundance of fresh produce this time of the year is incredible, whether from your garden, the local farmer’s market or the grocery store. Everything from corn, beans, tomatoes, blueberries, carrots, broccoli, peppers…I could go on and on. All of these bright colors and fresh flavors are so much fun to cook with.
This Three Cheese Garden Veggie Pizza is one of my favorite ways to get my son to eat more veggies. The crust is made from a healthy pizza dough recipe and it’s topped with a garlic-infused olive oil base. Then it’s piled with crisp, fresh summer veggies and topped with a liberal layer of cheese – actually it’s more like three cheeses!
The great thing about this pizza is that you can swap any veggies or cheeses that you have on hand. It’s perfect for family-style entertaining or a special weeknight meal. It’s also a great recipe for the kids to help with! They can knead the dough, chop the veggies (if they’re old enough) and assemble the pizza.
Produce for Kids is committed to educating families on the benefits of healthy eating and inspiriting parents and children to create nutritious meals together. They’ve partnered with the produce industry and local grocery store retailers to raise funds for children’s nonprofit organizations while educating families about the benefits of healthy eating with fresh produce. The best part (besides fruits and veggies, of course) – ALL funds raised stay local and go to area children’s organizations!
I shopped for my veggies at my local Price Chopper, but other grocery stores are participating too! Here’s a list:
- Ahold’s GIANT and Martin’s Food Stores; Giant Landover, and Stop & Shop divisions
- Associated Wholesale Grocers’ Major Savings, Advantage, Independent, Country Mart, Homeland and United divisions
- Meijer Stores
- Price Chopper
- Publix Super Markets
- Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc.’s Pick n’ Save, Rainbow Foods, Copps Food Center, Metro Market divisions.
Check your local grocery store’s produce department for the in-store signage about the program.
For the third year, Produce for Kids is also partnering with Sprout, the 24-hour preschool network. Sprout characters will be featured on in-store signage and will even be making appearances at select grocery stores across the country! Visit the Produce for Kids facebook page for additional details and locations.
Now, back to the pizza…this is as fresh as it gets. But the freshness doesn’t stop there! You can pair it my Caesar Salad and my Perfect Blueberry Pie for dessert!
What are your pizza toppings? Leave me a comment below!
Check out these resources for more pizza recipes:
(Disclaimer: these are affiliate links)
Three Cheese Garden Veggie Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 ball of pizza dough (recipe follows) or one 10 oz. package of refrigerated pizza crust
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- ½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
- 1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
- 1 medium bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place pizza dough on flat pizza stone.
- Shape the dough to fit stone and brush with olive oil. Spread garlic evenly over crust.
- Bake for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from oven.
- Evenly spread cheddar cheese over the crust.
- Layer zucchini, tomato, pepper, broccoli and onion over the Cheddar cheese.
- Sprinkle Italian seasoning over the vegetables.
- Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
- Bake 15-18 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and bubbly. Cut into wedges; serve warm.
Healthy Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand until foamy (about 10 minutes).
- Add olive oil and salt and stir into the yeast mixture.
- Mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough start coming together.
- Flour a work surface with remaining flour. Knead on floured surface until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth (about 10 minutes).
- Coat a large bowl with olive oil. Place dough in the oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface of the dough. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- When the dough is doubled, place dough on a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust.
- Form each piece into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Drape the dough over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size and thickness, place on a well oiled pizza pan or stone. Top pizza with your favorite toppings.
- Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.
For more recipe inspiration, be sure to check out these pages on It’s a Keeper:
Mariah Leeson (@Giggles_Galore) says
July 24, 2014 at 1:17 amYUM, our family loves pizza night and we are going to have to give this one a try! Thanks for sharing with us at The Creative Collection, hope to see you back again soon!
Jennifer @Making Our Life Matter says
July 13, 2014 at 10:42 pmLove pizza, love eating pizza. So this is definitely a great recipe to try!
Clare says
July 13, 2014 at 3:58 pmOoh I love pizza – so you had me at healthy!
Candi Elm says
July 12, 2014 at 11:10 pmWe love pizza over here, we could eat it every day.
krystalskitsch says
July 12, 2014 at 2:34 pmI love making my own fresh pizza! I’ve never added this many veggies though, I should!
Heather says
July 11, 2014 at 1:10 pmI could eat pizza every day of the week. This looks like my bianca pizza on steroids – yum!